I may be the only person in the world who hates being home sick.

Well, I woke up Monday morning feeling like my brain had swelled twice its normal size (if only that were true because it's full of knowledge for the GMAT...). My sinuses and everything else in my head was stuffed up, and my dry cough I had all last week turned into hacking up nasty gunk. I called in sick to work and sat on the couch all day, doing nothing. Luckily it was gloomy and rainy all day so I didn't feel like I was missing out on too much, but I just hate sitting on the couch all day. I feel like such a failure. Especially because I wanted to get up before work and go running.

Today, I felt a little better when I woke up but I forgot to bring sudafed to work with me, so after about an hour I could barely breathe. My manager told me to go home and go see my doctor. Sure enough, I have bronchitis. Also, because I have a deviated septum, my sinuses are a constant issue so when I get sick they just flare up automatically. So she gave me nasal spray to help with the inflammation.

Either way, I'm taking tomorrow off too. Wanna know what I SHOULD use this time to be doing? STUDYING FOR THE EFFING GMAT THAT I TAKE ON SATURDAY.

But I don't wannnaaaaaaa. I just don't have the motivation. But I need to suck it up. qialkjdlaijroiwjiwelkdjskdfmNCKJNCjsdknfsjdhf;jdhfskahf;jdhnckjsnjkdvnsF

Yep. ^^^That's how I feel.

Anyway. That's all for now. I probably won't update again until Monday. Please send prayers/good vibes my way for the GMAT on Saturday. I have one shot, because I sure as hell don't have $250 to re-take it if I don't like my score.

Goodnight, fools (even though you're probably reading this on Wednesday morning).

Didya miss me?

Hey fools! I'm baaaaaaaack from my unexpected, unplanned hiatus. So sorry about that. Everything is fine in my life, trust me. Yes, I've had to reevaluate a friendship or two in the last few weeks since I've posted on here, but nothing to cry over, that's for sure. I just needed a mental break, and with it decided to give le old blog here a makeover. What do y'all think of the new look?? BTW, you can now email me. It's one of the social media icons on the left.

Anyhoo. I guess I'll do a wee little recap of my fab 23rd birthday. My amazing momma rented a 15 passenger van that carted us around to five a few wineries...

Aren't my best friends just the prettiest?

Nice and drunk at this point :) 

It was a wonderful birthday. I'm truly blessed to have such a great group of girlfriends here. I only wish my best friends from Memphis could have somehow been here. But I'll be going back there for a wedding in the new year, so YAY!

So that was pretty much the gist of my birthday. I'm sure if you follow me on IG you already saw those anyway. 

Another update: I'm officially working the noon to 8:30 PM shift at work, and I've decided to cancel my gym membership. I don't love going, I haven't been in over a month, and I really want to start running again. It's something I love and hate to do, and it's one of the best workouts you can get anyway. So I'll be running before work in the mornings, and hopefully getting my blog posts up then too, since all you non-west-coasters are already done blogging by the time I even get to work nowadays. 

One other thing I wanted to share in this post was what I did last night. My friend Cassandra is a crafting queen, and she's been wanting to start a craft night once a month. So last night we had a pumpkin craft night/puppy playdate. Didn't Winnie just look adorable?

Lookin' good in Martha Stewart. 

I LOATHE carving pumpkins. It's messy and it never turns out the way I envision it. So I decided to paint mine. 

First of all, it definitely took me about 10 minutes to decide on a friggen pumpkin at Trader Joe's. Call me vain. Whatever. 

I thought painting a chevron pattern would be easy, but it was A BITCH. It took 5 tries before I wound up just throwing the tape on and carving out the pattern basically with a pair of scissors (which would have been a lot safer with a box-cutter. Whatevs.). Here's the steps to my final product: 

It was much more difficult than I thought it would be, but the acrylic paint dried fast and that made me happy. Then I found some rhinestones and got in touch with my former sorority girl and put my monogram on it. And a burlap bow to top it off. I like it :) 

Alright people. Thanks for stickin' around, and I'm really looking forward to this next chapter of my life and this blog. 

Love y'all!

5 (or 10) disorganized things on Friday: Birthday edition.

Haaayyyyyyyyyyy party people I'm officially 23!!!

To be honest, it doesn't really feel any different. Womp womppppp. Birthdays are kinda anti-climactic after 21, aren't they? But....I love any excuse to plan a party and celebrate something, and so far it's been very fun celebrating 23 :)

1) On Wednesday, I walked into work and was shocked to find this:

Camo and princess. My co-workers get me. And these were my presents (2): 

A 3-month birchbox subscription!!!! I love my glambag, but I was seriously torn between it and Birchbox, so I'm super pumped to get this little trial run. And then all kinds of silly camo and pink knick-knacks. And a printout of one of my favorite e-cards. It's very appropriate. 

I was so touched by that whole thing. My department is notorious for doing silly things like this for everyone's birthday, but I'm the new girl still and I'm much more broke (and younger) than most of my co-workers so I can't ever really contribute more than a little bit. So I really wasn't expecting anything. Let alone THIS. And the reason we celebrate my birthday on Wednesday was because yesterday (my actual birthday) was a going away party for my director. But it was a good day at work nontheless. 

Then, last night, me and my momma and two of my best girlfriends went to one of my favorite restaurants, Gabardine (yes, we went there for my mom's birthday back in February, too). 

I was not good on my diet. Do I care? No. And you will see why (3 and 4):

Brussels sprouts tossed in balsamic, gorgonzola, walnuts, and BACON!!! Thick, juicy bacon. Ughghkjshfkshfdsjf sooooooo gooooood. And those fries aren't just any normal fries. They're butter fries. That means they're cooked in butter. BUTTER!!! Why doesn't everyone cook their fries this way!?!?!

Sorry, I really shouldn't get so excited over food. Hence my weight issues (5).

Yep. Lobster and truffle mac and cheese. It was delicious. I'll be eating the leftovers for lunch today. My mom got their shrimp and grits, which are BOMB (especially for being made in so-cal), and Lindsey got shark, their catch of the day. It was delicious. If you've never had shark you're missing out. And my friend Nicole got the same thing as me.

(6)

I have great friends.

And a great momma (7).

And a pretty great friend-boy-thing-whatever-you-wanna-call-him (8).

And of course the best puppy in the whole wide world (9).

Basically, I'm very blessed. Even though I'm struggling with a lot right now, from my weight and my health to trying to get my career off the ground to trying to finally get my feet firmly planted on the ground as a contributing member of society, I have SO MUCH to be thankful for.

And I can't wait to spend tomorrow wine tastinggggggggggg my favorite activity!!!

So yeah. Thanks for the birthday wishes and I'll see y'all Monday :) I'm sure if you follow me on IG you'll get to see the hot mess express in action tomorrow!

BTW, does anyone watch Project Runway? It's one of my shows.

My favorites this season have always been Dom and Justin. Dom more for her gorgeous looks. There have been multiple times I've felt she deserved to win or at least be in the top and she wasn't. So I was so happy she showed the judges what she was made of last night and got a spot in fashion week (10).

I mean hello. I want this dress:

And this one:

Bradon's cool too, but I have no idea what his collection will be. Plaid? Yuck. I sure hope not. I just hope Justin is the one who gets the third spot next week. You can't not be touched by him.


Sorry for that random tidbit. But if you watch PR, you get me.

Now I'm off to do 30DS before work. Eff.

Anyhoo, have a great weekend everyone!!

The start of my quarter-life crisis

Happy Hump Day everybody :) Annnnd happy 22 and 364/365ths birthday to meeeeeeeee.......yep, tomorrow's the day I turn 23. Let the quarter-life-crisis begin!!!

To be honest, I've been thinking a lot about turning 23 and how I really want to get to a healthy weight and state in my life because I really do want to get married and start having kids in the next 4-5 years. So why keep putting it off.

I've totally slacked since last week on 30 Day Shred. And by slacked I mean...I haven't done it since Thursday. I'm PMSing which I think has something to do with my lack of motivation and feeling just tired all the time and wanting to lay around and do nothing. But I did weigh myself this morning and I've lost 1 pound since last week. I'm not seeing results, but oh well. I think I'm going to stay on week 2 for another full week (since this weekend will be full of drinking wine and eating food), and then start week 3 and really kick it into high gear.


Also, at work yesterday, the girl I've been filling in for (who's job I want) didn't come back from her trip with any good news. So...I'm going to start really keeping an eye on what else is out there. I love my job but it's really at the point now where I'm paying to go to work. The miles I put on my car with my long commute have made me get two oil changes in the last 6 months. My car is going to be out of warranty way before it should be. And gas here is effing expensive. On the upside, I am going to be starting to work the noon-8:30 shift every day next week from then on basically, so I won't be hitting traffic and hopefully I'll be getting better MPG than when I sit in an hour of bumper-to-bumper traffic each way every day. 
That also means I'm going to start a routine with the gym. Going there in the morning and getting ready there and going straight to work. I'm nervous! What if I forget something? Like my bra? Or my blowdrier? Or anything!??! Ahhhh. 
Do any of you get ready at the gym for work??? How do you do it!??! 

Also, this is totally irrelevant and if you follow me on instagram you've already seen it anyway, but....I took this picture of Winnie the other night and my heart just melts every time I look at it. 

Those ears. That blissful look on her face. Getting her belly rubbed. It just captures the essence of Winnie :) 
Yes, I'm obsessed with my dog. 
Alright time to go to work. Later fools!

Weekend recap a day late, oops!

Happy Tuesday, fools! This weekend was soooooo awesome. I did make those cloud cookies on Friday night, and they turned out super delicious but they looked kinda weird...




According to Chris, they look like poop. Thanks.

The vanilla extract is what turned it the shade of light brown (in the recipe pictures it was pretty white), but I followed it exactly so, who knows. They tasted delicious though. But...I forgot them when I left to go to the picnic yesterday. Oopsies! But I'm glad I did, which I'll explain in a minute.

Saturday was, as you all know, Keith Urban/Little Big Town/Dustin Lynch. It. Was. AMAZING!!!








Sorry for some of the IG repeats. But y'all don't follow me there anyway so oh well :)

Anyhoo. The show was awesome. Keith Urban rocked it. Little Big Town was sooooo good even though they sang a bunch of their new shit, it was still fun to dance to.

Then Chris wound up driving down here randomly to stay with his buddy in east county, so yesterday after the picnic (which I'll get to), I went and spent the rest of the afternoon and night with them.

So let me discuss the picnic yesterday. First, let me explain that the Kappa Delta Foundation created International Women's Friendship Month for the month of September. Chapter across the country do all kinds of fun things to celebrate the friendships we have with other women and our sisters.

 For example, in my collegiate chapter we had a fashion show for the new members, which every sorority on campus got to participate in. A local boutique would donate all the outfits and dress the new members up and do their hair and makeup, and it was a big party. Super fun and cute. Well, the San Diego State chapter decided to put on a picnic yesterday for the San Diego Kappa Delta Alumnae Association. Keep in mind SDSU was, up until last year, the only school in San Diego that had a KD Chapter, but they just colonized one at USD. But, because they're so new, the large majority of the Alumnae Chapter is made up of SDSU grads.

I'm not going to hate on West Coast Greek life at all. It's not worth starting a conversation over. But I will say it's VERY different here than it is in the rest of the country. I also went to school in the city that hosts Kappa Delta's National Headquarters, so to say we did everything by-the-book (and very well) would be a huge understatement. It's also just more traditional in the South, in general. But I've hung out with these ladies here once before and while they're different, Lindsey, Brittany and I were excited to start getting involved (and I really want to be an advisor next year for either SDSU or USD). But yesterday was really disappointing. These women, who were 98% all graduates of the SDSU KD Chapter, pretty much sat around at a picnic being hosted BY their own sisters, talking trash about them, what they're doing wrong, and "reminiscing" on their college days (which happened like at least 5 years ago for most of them and was all petty and not at all classy or representative of what Kappa Delta stands for). I'm not saying my chapter had perfect Alumnae relations, but I can guarantee you that when we had anything with the local Alumnae chapter, we were not divided. We mingled. We talked about the things we needed help with or advice on. The whole thing Sunday was painful. The collegiate girls sat in a circle and non of the Alumnae talked to them other than to organize a group picture. Lindsey and I made ourselves stay for an hour, and then we bounced. I will continue to keep going to stuff, and I'll probably get involved, but rest assured when I do get invovled, I'm speaking my mind.

Sorry for the rant. But I hope those of you who were Greek in college can understand my frustration. This is why sorority women get bad reps.

Anyway. Hope everyone had a great weekend too, and yay for it being my BIRTHDAY WEEK! Can't believe I'll be 23 on Thursday................

5 on Friday. Yes, I have some :)

Happy Fridayyyyy!!!!!!! Here's my five:

1. Yesterday at work I found out some WONDERFUL news. Little backstory, the current Group Rooms Coordinator is out of town for a week on vacay, and I've been working with the Reservations Supervisor to fill in for her while she's gone. This is hopefully the position I move into soon (I know a little something that I can't tell anyone and I wouldn't want to jinx anything, so I'm just praying praying praying!), and I've loved every minute of doing her job so far. It's not easy, it's stressful, and it keeps you busy. WHAT I NEED. Well, I already wrote about how my director resigned this week, which really freaked me out. But yesterday my supervisor pulled me aside to ask me if I'd be down to help out in Sales and Marketing during the next month or so, because their Director is going to be basically helping the new Director of my department until they're fully transitioned, and fall is THE season for groups and conferences at my hotel, so they're going to be swamped. I'm so excited/honored and relieved.

2. Not that this is any big deal, but it kind of is. The communication between Chris and I has had a breakthrough finally, and, as I expected, I was freaking out over nothing. This isn't going to be an easy road, but hopefully it will all be worth it one day.

3. In general, I'm just feeling better. My breathing is getting easier, and maybe that's just because I'm really looking forward to this weekend, but I woke up just feeling more hopeful about the near future.

4. I've been consistent with 30 Day Shred (Wednesday was my break day and I had sushi and wine for dinner while watching Duck Dynasty and Survivor. Judge me). It's getting easier, and I'm confident to move into level 3 at some point next week :)

5. THIS WEEKEND WILL BE AWESOME!!!!

I get to see this guy....

These guys...

Please play your old stuff, please.

And this sexy guy...

Hi. 

HELLO!

I'm so excited. 

And then I'm making these cookies for the San Diego Kappa Delta Alumnae Association picnic on Sunday:

It's a recipe from Skinnytaste, so these bitches better eat them, unlike the delicious fat cupcakes I made a couple months ago. Just saying. Because let's be real, you know this is them most of the time...

Me, on the other hand? I'm going to keep it real. This will be me: 

I AM, however, going to try my hardest to not drink beer at the concert. I really think I'm going to go to BevMo and buy a bottle of a Skinnygirl Cocktail. I know they're not the tastiest, but it might do the trick.

Alright, that's all for me. I'm happy to say I'm much happier today than I have been the last week or two. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Thank you

Hey all!

I just wanted to say thank you to those of you that commented on my post yesterday.

Before I went to sleep, I felt ok. I felt like maybe I was being dramatic and I just needed to be a grown-up and deal with whatever stupid stuff is going on on my own. Then I had a dream that invovled me travelling--where to, I don't remember--and I was SO stressed out. I remember my mom was supposed to pick me up from some airport and take me somewhere and she was late (and I was being a total jerk to her) and eventually I woke up and when I did, I had a knot in my stomach that hasn't gone away. Every other thing that's getting to me lately was on my mind. I'm even stressed out in my dreams, people! What. The. Hell.

I've mentioned many times I am a control freak. Especially with schedules and planning things. So it's not surprising that I would have a random dream about something like travelling and being late and all that. But this weekend, as I mentioned, is a concert. First of all, I'm always a stressball at concerts at this particular venue because, well, everyone and their mother clogs up the cell phone lines. Literally, your phone will not work there for the majority of the concert--it usually starts around 5 and randomly they'll start working again toward the end of the concert (I'm assuming because lots of batteries have died in trying to use them) and then again when the concert ends and everyone's trying to get out and find people. I HATE IT. I've lost people before and not found them until way later on in the night, by the grace of God. It just unnerves me. And if Chris is still being a butthead, I know I'll be checking my phone constantly to see if he's called or texted (even though the phones won't be working). So. I've decided on Saturday I'm just going to leave my phone in the car and not leave my friend's side that I'm going with. I'll either be a complete nutjob without it, or it will be freeing. But it can't hurt to try, I guess.

I'm also going to try to make an appointment to go see my doctor and see about getting prescribed something to help this apparent anxiety. The last thing I want is to have a panic attack the weekend of my birthday, or, ya know, in general, ever. So I guess I should take care of it.

Anyway, sorry this was another boring post with no pictures. But I truly appreciate the comments yesterday. Talking to people who deal with this is enlightening.